After winning 11 of last 13, Auburn wants to talk 'championships'

Auburn freshman Edouard Julien hits a grand slam in a 11-5 victory over No. 21 Vanderbilt on May 5, 2018.

AUBURN — Auburn is on its way to making the final hosting decisions by the NCAA baseball selection committee very difficult.

Thanks to a grand slam by freshman Edouard Julien and hanging seven runs on Vanderbilt junior starter Patrick Raby, Auburn clinched its weekend series against the Commodores with a 11-5 victory Saturday. At that moment, Auburn was in the hosting discussion and further cemented its case with wins Sunday against Vanderbilt and Tuesday night over South Alabama.

According to the latest Baseball America regional projections, No. 17 Auburn will host its first regional in seven years with Southern Mississippi as the No. 2 seed, Dallas Baptist No. 3 and Navy No. 4. The d1baseball.com projectionshave Auburn as a host with Southern Mississippi as the No. 2 seed, Houston as the 3 and Quinnipiac as the 4.

Sunday's 14-0 victory over Vanderbilt wrapped up Auburn's first sweep of the Commodores since 2002 and kept Auburn's resume factors (ratings percentage index, strength of schedule and conference placement) at an extremely high level. Coach Butch Thompson said after Tuesday's 10-4 win over South Alabama that, in Year 3 of his program, the Tigers won't lower their expectations and are focused on the school's first Western Division title since 2010.

"Yeah, we're trying to win the West, we're trying to win everything we possibly can and I've told this team for 2 1/2 years, people don't fail because they aim high and miss. It because they aim low and hit it," Thompson said.

"I want us to win a championship. Whether it's the West, a tournament, the next step (in NCAA play). I want this program to win a championship. I don't know why we wouldn't set our team up to have that. That'd be awesome."

Julien, who leads the nation’s freshmen in RBIs, added to his total in the second inning Saturday with a grand slam off the scoreboard in left-center, to give Auburn a 7-2 lead. Julien, who has a team-high 12 home runs, has hit three in his last five games. Julien hit two home runs at No. 1 Florida and both of his French-speaking parents from Quebec were in Plainsman Park on Saturday for their son's second grand slam of the season.

“After the fall, I thought I wasn’t going to play and to now be in the lineup every day and help the team win is big for me,” Julien said. “(My parents) have been there for me my whole life and my dad has been teaching me since I was 4 years old.”

Auburn (35-14, 13-11 SEC), which is ranked No. 7 in the latest RPI, has 23 wins over Group 1 and Group 2 teams and has an 8-9 record away from home. The Tigers have 12 wins over current RPI Top 40 teams and have put themselves in a position to host one of the 16 NCAA regionals.

Auburn, which hasn’t hosted a regional since 2010, has won nine of its last 12 SEC games. The Tigers and Ole Miss are both one game behind SEC West leader Arkansas.

"I don't want to forget about the 4-8 (start in SEC play) because I thought that really allowed us to find ourselves," Thompson said.

Since 2007, no team inside the RPI Top 10 (which is where Auburn sits right now) has not received a regional hosting assignment, and Auburn isn’t looking to be a trendsetter in that regard. The everyday players on the Auburn roster including Julien are talking about postseason possibilities.

If we host a regional here, that would be amazing. If Casey goes out there as the possible No. 1 overall pick, we always think we can win. Anything is possible.

Auburn freshman Edouard Julien on the Tigers’ postseason outlook on May 5.

“With the pitching staff, bullpen with (Cody Greenhill) and we have a good lineup too so we can go far as even the College World Series,” Julien said Saturday. “If we host a regional here, that would be amazing and if Casey (Mize) goes out as the possible No. 1 overall pick, we always think we can win. If we go out there, anything is possible.”

Thompson said Saturday he likely won’t ask Mize (9-2, 2.25 ERA) to move up his usual start for Thursday series openers both this week and next. Auburn plays at Ole Miss (36-13, 13-11) this week and hosts LSU next week.

Auburn’s coaching staff will likely ask Mize to throw the following night on full rest to not drain him before a postseason run.

Former Montgomery Advertiser 1A-4A All-Metro player of the year Davis Daniel will make his first start Thursday since being removed from the weekend rotation in mid-April. Thursday's game begins at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

"Coach (Steve) Smith and I have been working hard on keeping my front side up in my delivery and I think the ball was really coming out of my hand with more life," Daniel said. "I'm going to come out firing on Thursday night and see how far in the game I can get."

Auburn player Edouard Julien (10) celebrates with Alabama infielder Cody Henry (9) after hitting a home run during the Capitol City Classic between Alabama and Auburn on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, in Montgomery, Ala.